U.S. beef supply chain participants form partnership to improve sustainability; Manufacturers and retailers fail to adopt best-in-class processes and technology to address global complexities; Online retailers need to rethink how they align their distribution networks; Spot market rates dip seasonally as West Coast volumes catch up; Staples and Syracuse University partner to drive new research and innovation.

Determining the best location for a new or expanding business in an increasingly competitive and global marketplace is challenging. These locations offer a number of advantages when it comes to meeting today’s logistics and supply chain needs.

Pilot program uses drones to deliver time-sensitive goods; Canadian government lines up two new bilateral trade agreements; Labor rights causing supply chain disruption; Using social media to understand carrier usage.

E-commerce presents retailers with challenges and opportunities; Food regulation top of mind for 3PLs and shippers; Daktronics’ lean machine keeps production at home; Nike partners with Bluesign Technologies to facilitate sustainable sourcing program among supply chain partners.

By identifying the value-adds that brand and retail shippers want, logistics providers can position their offerings to bring millions in benefits to their customers and make the relationship stick, writes Greg White of Blue Ridge.

New e-commerce sites like Groupon and LivingSocial can bring huge sales volume in a very short period of time by reaching a targeted audience with appealing offers. Tod Yazdi of TAGGlogistics explains how shippers can work with fulfillment partners to make the most of this new opportunity.

Texas places three locations among ATRI’s top-10 congested roadways; Truck size and weight debate is a divisive topic for the transportation and logistics industry; Truck driver shortage raises new concerns and costs for shippers and carriers; Electronics supply chain poses new challenges; Demand planning is still a pain point for shippers

Vendor Managed Inventory is shaking off its old-school image and regaining popularity thanks to improved technology, robust communication, tighter demand signal linkage, and a new openness to collaboration that has turbo-charged enterprise benefits.

To mark SmartWay's 10th anniversary, several shipper partners share their best tactics for getting the most out of the program... Sourcing and procurement functions have become areas of core incompetency says new survey.

Technology is enabling an unprecedented level of transparency and communication to help shippers and their logistics providers understand each other's operations, and collaborate in ways that were much more difficult in the past.

Bad things happen when systems break down. Flights get canceled. Production lines stop. The critical spare parts logistics involved in getting operations running again demand both precision and speed. Here’s how you can become a wizard at critical shipments.

When a merger required Nature’s Way to consolidate distribution facilities, it called on the services of system supplier The Numina Group for a new design and technologies. Today, the facility successfully distributes products to customers in 50 states, and overseas through five supply chain channels.

Energy companies have responded to the escalating cost of doing business by looking for savings in the indirect material supply chain. As a result, many are struggling to optimize maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) functions.

Online retailers seeking new sites for DCs and warehouses need the transportation infrastructure to support a constant, rapid-fire flow of shipments – plus a capable workforce, affordable utilities, and business incentives to help them get the most from their investment.

Retailers and shippers need to find ways to meet consumers’ changing demand for home delivery services, while maintaining adequate margins and finding new avenues for continued growth, writes Foster Finley of AlixPartners.

To preserve working capital and promote flexibility, many companies choose to leverage the capabilities of a third-party-logistics (3PL) provider for carrier spend, facility occupancy, and more, writes John Wagner Jr. of Wagner Logistics.

Shippers want 3PL partners that not only responsively evolve service networks and capabilities to flex with the market, but also can anticipate and be ready to meet future service requirements, writes Ray Greer of BNSF Logistics.

Continuous e-commerce growth has prompted an increasing number of retailers to use third-party logistics (3PL) providers for handling their direct-to-consumer fulfillment. Jeffrey B. Graves of Sedlak Management Consultants explains that for retail logistics executives, assessing 3PL capabilities that best fit their company’s requirements can be a challenge, yet critical for optimum return on investment (ROI)

As manufacturers strive to strike the perfect balance between parts delivered and parts consumed in production, technology innovations allow logistics providers to ensure companies receive only the parts they need when they need them, writes John Paugh of Carter Logistics.

Savvy distribution and supply chain managers should be looking at sortation and its related disciplines as a means of addressing problems and achieving savings, writes Jay Moris of Invata Intralogistics.

As retailers look to grow their business, the challenge of keeping up with the market becomes exponentially greater—especially as new channels emerge, writes Editor Felecia Stratton. Supply chain management can help create balance between supply and demand.

Companies are increasingly realizing that supply chain must become a core competency. Adding a supply chain control tower and taking on the fourth-party logistics (4PL) role offers them the ability to accelerate collaboration and achieve higher performance levels.

If shippers use their third-party logistics partners for more than brokerage—not just as tactical providers, but as strategic partners—a whole new world of logistics excellence and accomplishments could open up, writes Inbound Logistics Publisher Keith Biondo.

Many companies, including Kimberly-Clark, Ebro, and USG Corporation, are moving beyond the traditional, transactional shipper-3PL relationship to form collaborative partnerships focused on mutual gain.

Capable third-party logistics (3PL) providers can help you manage rising logistics costs because they have highly developed processes and critical infrastructures in place, writes Brad Constantini, Comprehensive Logistics.

Responding to our annual Readers' Choice Top 10 3PL Excellence survey, Inbound Logistics readers voted on the best third-party logistics providers and related the ways in which they count on their 3PLs.

Shippers that use only the transactional solutions offered by their 3PL partners are missing the opportunity to benefit from advanced logistics solutions and expertise they helped pay to initiate, implement, and build-out, writes Publisher Keith Biondo.

Amazon closes Texas distribution facility over sales tax dispute; Robert Guenther of United Fresh Produce Association comments on FDA Food Safety Modernization Act; U.S. General Services Administration rolls out green guidelines for government suppliers; Crossdocking use is on the rise

Most logistics outsourcers today use an RFQ to select their 3PLs. But that model is outdated and ineffective. A handful of forward-thinking shippers and logistics providers are instead embracing a collaborative outsourcing method, with powerful results.

Logistics service providers are eligible for a range of certifications, such as C-TPAT, SmartWay, FAST, and IATA. But what they must do to qualify, and why should these certifications matter to shippers?

Small and mid-sized manufacturers lack the scale to ship in full truckloads, creating thousands of separate, inefficient lines of supply—all moving to the same mass retailers. Collaborative distribution reduces the number of trucks on the road and cuts distribution costs.

Retailers publish routing guides to establish rules for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors to follow when fulfilling and shipping orders. Here are the benefits of establishing a routing guide.

Companies that combine the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra with the supply chain wisdom of managing costs and stamping out inefficiencies are developing reverse supply chains that help the Earth, the customer, and the bottom line.